A New Kind of Enemy
by The Dreaming Moon
Summary: When Katara and Sokka are captured, Aang must battle between his duty as the Avatar to the world, and his duty as Aang to his friends. Takes place between the third and fourth episode the southern air temple-the warriors of kyoshi


This is not only my first fan fiction i've ever written, but also my first short story i haven't written for school. I'd really appreciate any kind of criticism you can offer, whether it's as simple as rephrasing something or if some parts weren't so great and could be reworked, or just if you liked it or not. Even if you didn't i'd like to know why so i can improve myself. Hope you all like it ^^

ps and i know the name sucks...

disclaimer: it's a fan fic site, is this really necessary?

* * *

The monks had always told him that a clouded mind led to clouded judgment, but try as he might, Aang couldn't stop his racing mind. He had been out gathering food for breakfast when he'd heard the explosions and seen the smoke. He hadn't stopped to think before running towards camp. Everything the monks had taught him about keeping control of your body was lost to him. He was taking ragged breaths, and was simply crashing through the forest as fast as he could. And though in the back of his mind he knew all of this, there was only one thought going through his head right now.

He had to help his friends.

Aang could tell by the plumes of smoke in the sky that he was almost there, but the screaming in his legs forced him to stop running. He wouldn't be any use in a fight if he was winded anyways. Finally getting control of himself, he took in a long, deep breath and let it flow through his body. After a few seconds, he felt the burning in his legs subside, and he restarted his sprint towards the clearing again.

The clearing was finally coming into sight through the brush, and Aang's heart began to sink. Sokka was obviously unconscious, draped over a fire nation soldier's shoulder as he walked out of the clearing, and though he was concerned for his friend, it was the sight of Katara that made Aang lose control again. She was struggling to free herself from a fire nation soldier restraining her. He was just about to recklessly crash into the clearing when Katara finally freed herself from the hand clamped over her mouth. Her screams brought him to halt.

"Aang, it's a trap! Don't come for us, you're too important! It's too risk-"

As the soldier regained control of her, he didn't waste any time in clubbing her over the head, knocking her out. Aang winced as her body slumped to the ground. Part of him was telling him to rush in and help her. Another was lamenting over the fact that Katara had been right, and that his duty was to the world and not to himself. Even as these thoughts crossed his mind, he tried to throw them out. How could he even consider abandoning his friends? They were all he had left in this strange, unforgiving world woken up in. Guilt filled him for a moment, as it always did when he thought about his disappearance, but he quickly quelled it and pushed it aside. Still, the emotion brought back memories of the monks Aang loved so much, and what they would think of him. Even though they were gone, he knew they would berate him for putting his own selfish needs before the good of the world. Frustrated, Aang decided to do the only thing that made sense at the moment. He plopped to the ground, crossed his legs, and with a deep breath, began to meditate.

* * *

As the soldiers left the clearing, one stopped and turned around to observe the scene. Fires were sputtering around the edges of the bushes, supplies strewn across the ground. It was clear the fire nation was here. He wondered what the Avatar would think when he discovered his camp destroyed and his friends taken. He let a grin spread across his face, though it stopped where the scar over his eye began. He turned and followed the rest of the soldiers back to their camp, to lie in wait for the Avatar.

* * *

Aang didn't know how long he had been sitting, but he had felt the sun shift higher above him so it must've been more than an hour. It had taken him a long time to empty his mind of everything. The boy let the sounds of the forest lull him into a state of meditation. He then slowly let his troubles seep into his mind, so that he could better analyze them without other worldly distractions.

The first thoughts to enter his mind were the monks. He had abandoned them. Run away out of selfish desire, when the world had needed him most. And now the monks were dead. Gyatso was dead. Aang unconsciously frowned as the thought of his father figure crossed his mind. He may have died a hundred years ago, but to Aang it had been days. A tear slid down Aang's face, but he didn't feel it. He wondered what Gyatso would think about Aang now. Would he be mad? Would he be ashamed? He sighed, and took in another breath. There was nothing he could do to find out, so he began to empty his mind again, and moved on…

* * *

Katara woke up with a jolt. She tried to get up, but was too dizzy. Where was she anyway? She looked around and saw that they were still on the island. She decided to use the tree behind her to help her stand, but as she moved her arms, a jangling brought her attention to the shackles around her wrists. Her eyes widened as she remembered what happened. Setting up camp when a dozen fire nation soldiers burst into the clearing… They hit Sokka… Katara immediately began to look around frantically for her brother. She sighed in relief as she saw that he was chained next to her. What happened after Sokka… A soldier had grabbed her from behind, she'd screamed for…Aang! She began her frantic searching again, this time hoping she wouldn't find him. Before she could look for long, a fire nation soldier walked in front of her and smirked. It was the scarred soldier from the South Pole.

"He's not here if that's what you're wondering," he said. "But don't worry, he'll come." The scarred soldier turned and walked away towards the rest of the soldiers. Katara couldn't tell if she should be glad or not. Aang was safe for now, but she was stuck here. She looked around and saw the dozens of fire nation around camp. She hoped to the spirits Aang didn't come…

* * *

Aang's eyes fluttered open as he left his meditative trance. He looked up and saw that the sun was almost at its peak. He had started in early morning, so it must've been at least 4 hours. The monk closed his eyes and thought back to his meditation. When he had thought about the monks, he had felt guilty about his selfish actions, but what was done is done. The monks may not be pleased with him, but that was something Aang was going to have to live with. But when he had thought about his friends, only one thing mattered.

Katara.

Aang opened his eyes, and with a newfound conviction, began to search for his glider. He only had another hour before the sun moved past its peak. He found it, and made his way back to Appa. He was going to need the sky bison's help to escape.

* * *

Katara woke up and realized she had been moved. Her and Sokka were now in the middle of the clearing the soldiers were camped in. A quick glance revealed that the camp was now broken down, and there was no sign of any of the fire nation soldiers. For a moment she thought they had left, but then she realized she was still chained to a tree. Upon further inspection of the surrounding forest, Katara could see the fire nation soldiers hiding in the trees. "They must be waiting to ambush Aang," she thought. He'd never see them coming.

She heard jangling, and saw her brother begin to stir. She looked up and saw the sun was at its peak. Sokka had been out of it for 5 hours. She was starting to worry about her brother when she noticed something weird about the sun.

* * *

He had known the firebenders were setting a trap for him. Why else would they take his friends? It was him they wanted. So when he had seen Katara and Sokka chained in the middle of a clearing, he had known trees surrounding it were filled with soldiers. A simple enough trap, but one that would catch any on the ground by surprise. Aang, of course, was not on the ground. He was an airbender, the only one the world had seen for a hundred years, and the fire nation wasn't used to fighting an enemy who could fly.

Aang was kilometers above the ground when he checked to make sure the sun was behind him, folded his glider, and began his headfirst free fall towards the ground.

It was a few moments before Katara realized what was falling from the sky. Her eyes widened when she figured out what Aang was doing. She immediately lunged for Sokka, and, shielding him with her body, curled into as tight a ball as she could. It wasn't much protection, but it was all she was going to get. One of the soldiers stepped out of cover to see what she was hiding from, and glanced into the sky. He was opening his mouth to yell when Aang hit the ground.

Aang had been falling for about a minute when he decided was close enough to the ground to begin. He started channeling the wind screaming by him around his staff, creating a vortex waiting to be unleashed. He hoped the sun was enough cover for him or else he'd lose the element of surprise. He saw Katara spot him, and ready herself. He was glad she spotted him. It may have alerted that one soldier to his presence, but that didn't matter.

"Here goes nothing," Aang thought to himself as he started his front flip, trying to add as much energy as he could to the vortex he was charging. Coming around his final rotation, he saw the ground screaming up at him, and unleashed the vortex straight down into the ground as he landed.

The vortex had the double effect of throwing the soldiers 10 feet backwards and cushioning his impact with the ground. He quickly ran to his friends with the few moments he had before the firebenders attacked him. "You okay?" he asked as he shot a worried glance at them. Katara only nodded, but that was enough for Aang. He threw her the bison whistle he kept in his shirt, and without sparing her a second glance, prepared himself to deal with his attackers.

As the first fireball erupted from the brush came at him, Aang effortlessly deflected it away from him and his friends. As more fireballs came his way, he started counting the soldiers emerging from the edges of the clearing. "2..6…10…15 soldiers." Aang counted. Odds weren't good, but he knew as long as they didn't' surround him they could last for a few minutes.

Deciding to take the offence, he spun on his heel, whipping his glider around and knocking down the line of unsuspecting soldiers. Again, they were used to attacks they could see. One soldier, clearly the leader, was prepared, and rolled out of the way and rebuked with a blast of fire aimed at Aang's feet. He nimbly spun into the air to avoid the assault, and threw a gust of wind in his direction. The other soldiers were gathering themselves again, but before Aang could knock them down again, their leader began firing more shots in Aang's direction. It was all the monk could do to dodge them all. Aang closed the gap between them, and tried to knock him down with his staff. He caught a glimpse of the firebender's scar, and realized it was the same one that had been following them the entire time. He was surprised for a moment, and the scarred boy took his chance to knock Aang to ground.

* * *

Zuko grinned as he positioned himself above the monk, fist poised to burn him if he tried to escape. He sent his men to go get something to restrain him, and then turned to face the airbender again. "Nice try, Avatar, but is that really all you got?" he taunted. The boy smirked, as he responded, "No."

A massive thud, followed by a startling snap made Zuko spin around. There, in the middle of the clearing, was the Avatar's bison. It had already broken the tree the water peasants were shackled to, and he saw the girl carrying her brother onto the beast. He suddenly felt his legs swept out from under him as the Avatar took his chance to escape. Before Zuko could get back on his feet, the bison had flown beyond his range. Growling, he spun around and began barking orders to his men. They would resume their pursuit immediately, and Zuko swore he wouldn't underestimate the boy again for the second time. He turned around one last time to watch the bison fly away. This was a new kind of enemy he was facing, and he'd have to outsmart the Avatar to capture him.


End file.
